Judge Accused of Fleeing Fatal Crash : Accident: Female passenger was thrown from car that rolled over after getting off Ventura Freeway in Eagle Rock. Dazed Compton Municipal Court official turns himself in to authorities.

A Compton municipal judge has been arrested on charges of fleeing after his Mercedes-Benz spun out of control and crashed in Eagle Rock, leaving a woman passenger dead, authorities said Tuesday.

Judge Albert J. Garcia, 45, was booked early Tuesday on charges of suspected vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving, five hours after a spectacular crash about 7:30 p.m. Monday on Colorado Boulevard near an off-ramp of the Ventura Freeway, Officer Don Cox of the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The judge’s lawyer said Garcia--a husband, father and seven-year veteran of the bench--turned himself in after wandering from the scene in a state of shock, which set in when he realized that his 35-year-old passenger was dead.

“Her skull was broken open on the street. It was very gory,” said the lawyer, Robin Yanes.

“He just started wandering around aimlessly. After a time, he went to a pay phone and called a friend who picked him up and took him to the nearest police station.”

Jail records show that Garcia was arrested shortly before midnight, booked at 12:44 a.m. Tuesday, and released in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The name of Garcia’s passenger was withheld by authorities pending notification of her family. Yanes said the woman is a close friend of the judge’s.

“He’s in an extraordinary state of remorse,” the lawyer said. “He still seems to be in shock.”

An Eastside native, Garcia worked as a trumpet player and a librarian before settling on a law career, graduating in 1976 from the USC Law Center. He was appointed to the bench in 1986 by then-Gov. George Deukmejian. By 1993, he was the assistant presiding judge of the Compton Municipal Court District.

In published profiles of the judge, lawyers describe him as good-natured and courteous. However, according to police reports, Garcia was involved in a fight with a woman five months ago in his chambers. Sources said the woman was the car crash victim, but police were unable to confirm that report.

Witnesses in the area just west of Pasadena and only a few miles from the judge’s home, said the judge’s leased Mercedes apparently went out of control as it left the freeway onto a stretch of Colorado Boulevard.

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The car hit a post, flew out of control and rolled for about half a block, they said. The woman, who apparently was not wearing a seat belt, flew out of the car and landed on the concrete median.

“That car came off the freeway like a bat out of hell,” said Marie Kenner, 69, who was watching television when she heard the squeal of tires and a deafening crash.

“I looked at my husband and said, ‘Uh-oh, that one hit,’ ” Kenner said.